In addition to free-lance editing, Cheri is also
a staff editor for an e-publisher. She has three contemporary romances
published in hardcover by Avalon Books. Check them out on the Books
page.

Biographical Info
Cheri Jetton was born in California, near Sacramento. Most of her
teen years were spent on the High Desert, and she graduated from
Victor Valley Senior High in Victorville, Calif. Her father was an Air Force
sergeant, and she married an airman from Oklahoma.

Cheri and John settled in Houston,
Texas, and together raised four children. They were married
for 34 years when he succumbed to cancer.

Cheri is a member of Romance Writers of America. She spends her
time writing, editing, judging contests, spending a little time with
the grandchildren, and pursuing the hobby of photography.

Monday, October 24. 2011

After weeks of neglect, I see I need to get back to work. I've discovered dozens of new readers have posted comments to these blogs, but their messages are sitting in cyberspace awaiting my approval. Don't know why this is happening, but I'll see if I can't correct that! I appreciate your interest and your comments.

Since last posting here, I've attended NW Houston RWA's annual conference. Author/screen writer Alexandra Sokoloff presented a fabulous workshop which left my poor beleagured brain just stuffed with new information! The word "plotting" was even used. Shudder. Outlines, graphs, and, well...plotting just isn't my thing! I really need to try to apply some of the lessons though, to save myself time.

How about you? Are you a Plotter or a Panster? Actually I prefer the term free flying. Or is that "flying by the seat of your pants?" Hmmmm.

PANTSTER!
I get as far as a basic premise "what if" and obviously know h/h will end up HEA. I also have a tentative idea of why the h/h are the worst possible mates for each other, but if I think of ANY other plot point I immediately reject it as "not good enough" or "if I thought this was coming the reader will too."

Tried brainstorming and I end up looking at a blank page. Tried brainstorming with friends/CPs and often use very little of our session.

But if I just sit down and write- maybe start by describing a setting/scene without a lot of self-editing the story will unfold on the page and many times I gasp aloud at the brilliance of the twist...something I could never have consciously come up with beforehand.

Other times I look at this shocking twist and say aloud "now, why did I just do that to myself?" Because it makes the heightened complications that much harder to figure out when you don't plot.

I hate being a pantster, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Sarah Andre
www.SarahAndre.com

I guess I'm a plotter because I try to make sure I have all the elements before I write something, but I do not have a detailed outline. I'll fill out a GMC chart or Story Magic grid just to make sure the potential for conflict, romantic scenes, BBM is there, but when it comes to actually writing, nothing has been set in stone and there is nothing to follow. That's when I create and am often surprised about where the story goes. I do plot, but it's to streamline the process, not create the story.

Total Panster...every time I try to plot anything, I freeze up. I write scenes that come to me as they come to me, so I don't even write in order...later I have to figure out how to organize the scenes...I don't suggest that way of writing, but it's the only way my muse works!

I'm a pantster. I love to just jump right in there and start writing. Most of the time I have a subject I'm writing about and a few ideas of where it's headed but I just start writing and let my heart lead me. I also write right to the end - I don't stop to correct grammar or spelling and some chapters are really long while others are short but I have to get to the end to see what happens. It's like my heart is telling my mind a story. Then I go over it at least a million times and flesh it all out. So I'd call me a pantster and I'm proud of it.

I'm a total pantser! Why? Because I wanna be just like you when I grow up! LOL!
Seriously though, I've tried to set it up and plan it out, but even when I do, the characters rebel and it ends up going where they say, and that's not necessarily where I planned.
One fine example of this was the ending of my Blood Hunter series... I'd hinted to back stories all throughout the series, and they ALL decided to spill their guts in the final chapters.
One revelation absolutely shocked me, but when it came out, the entire saga suddenly made sense.

I've dub myself as a planster because I'm a combination of a planner (not plotter) and a panster. I like to jot down the story idea, basic plot, do a character sketch, so I won't forget the color of the hero's eyes or heroine's hair. I name my characters, research the setting, then I sit down and let the story come to me.

Well, looks like the pantsters are ahead at this point. Like Sarah, I've had the experience of the story taking an unexpected twist on me. In Crimson Snow I, myself, thought the heroine was shot by poachers. The cops and I were both wrong! I didn't discover it until around chapter three or so!

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